Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Mulund colony haunted by a monkey!

Six months ago, it was leopards. Now, residents of Mulund Colony, Shastrinagar, are being haunted by a monkey.

On Sunday, the monkey attacked two children in the area and has already bitten more than 10 people, since he was first spotted a week ago.

The irate residents of the area, which is adjacent to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, said that in spite of repeated calls made to forest officials, there was no action being taken.

“When we called up the Thane forest department they gave us the phone number of a monkey-catcher who charges Rs 2,000,” says Charulata Jadhav(38) a resident of the colony. “Why should we be responsible? It’s the duty of forest officials to capture the monkey!” she adds.

Forest department officials say they are helpless. “We got a call on Monday morning. We are already understaffed and there is no vehicle to go on the spot,” said an official from the Thane forest department.